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Better living with applied science
Yesterday morning I rode in early dawn partial light, and I even rode past the spot where I was hit in 2022, although yes, I was happy to not see any other road user for the first fifteen minutes, including passing that spot. Of course, a disproportionate number of accidents happen on quiet back roads, and I hypothesize that some of this is because that's where some drivers pay less attention. See no evil, fear no evil. And as for sight, I guess that the person who drove their car into me and my bike with lights and reflectors on a straight section of road wasn't looking out their windshield.
In addition to less riding quiet night roads, I've also changed my behavior by using, not one, but two, flashing taillights that are multiple steps brighter than the one I used four years ago. I hope to have a light bright enough that it would grab the attention of a driver who wasn't looking in it's direction, peripheral vision. Yesterday morning, after I rode past the place I was hit, I realized a scientific flaw in my thinking. My taillights are both red.
Years ago, I decided to build my own LED headlight for mountain bike rides. In consulting the interweb, I found an article that first taught about the two different photo receptor types in the human eye: rods and cones. Most of our daytime vision comes from cones, which see as much of the color spectrum as we can, while the rods are particularly effective in low light conditions, like at night, and tuned to work with greenish-blue cyan light, like moonlight. Isn't evolution neat? Alas, rods don't see the color red.
Alas, alas, the rods are also the portion of the eye responsible for peripheral vision. Try waving something greenish-blue around the corner of your eye. It's pretty visible. Now try the same with something red. Didn't see it, did you? The problem is, my extra bright, red taillights probably aren't any more visible to a driver whose vision is distracted from looking out their windshield. I'm wondering if I should trade one of those taillights for a blue strobe, and of course, it begs the question, why is a green light, better at grabbing a distracted driver's attention, "go", while the red "stop" light is the one that's easier to miss? Bad application of science, if you ask me.
After that early morning ride, I joined a still pretty early morning trail run with friends, and after that, I rode some more, that time on trails with a mountain bike. Toward the end of my loop, I passed two other riders headed the opposite way, a climb for them while I was descending over lots of exposed roots. I slowed a bit, as polite, and in saying "Hi," I thought the leader looked a like my old friend, John, from Connecticut. I even managed to read the "Expo" logo on his jersey, but it wasn't until a quarter mile down the trail that I realized, oh, Expo IS John's team, I was just thrown by the jersey's switch from red to yellow.
Maybe I wasn't used to seeing it in my peripheral vision? I also remembered that John is in a relationship with someone living in Northampton, possibly the second rider. The first rider had been on drop handlebars, possibly a cross bike, so I turned around on the chance I could catch them over the roots with my big, beefy tires. Even better, they happened to stop a hundred yards past where our paths crossed, so catching up was even easier! When I asked, "Is that John?" and the "Yes" was followed with a look of uncertainty, I followed with, "It's Salem."
"Oh, wow, I didn't recognize you, but I was thinking when you passed, wow, that guy's smooth. His chain isn't making any noise through this." I pointed out my adoption of a suspension fork, A LOT of suspension fork, as applied science that was helping me be smooth over the roots. My only regret from our trailside chat and reconnect: I failed to point out that both his not recognizing me, and my recognizing him, as I descended past over bumps, was probably because of more applied science: I was wearing glasses!
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